So-called terminals, which are a sort of electronic devices, may be classified into mobile terminals (also referred to as portable terminals) and stationary terminals according to their movability or not. Further, mobile terminals may be classified into handheld terminals and vehicle mount terminals according to their portability by users.
Recently these terminals have evolved into multimedia players that have the ability to perform multiple functions such as a digital camera, a music player, a game player, a broadcast receiver, and the like. For support and enhance the functionality of such terminals, improvements in structure and software of the terminals are now considered in the art.
In order to offer a great amount of information including high-definition images to users, a display unit equipped in a mobile terminal is increasing in size and thus the mobile terminal itself is also increasing in size. However, an increased size of the mobile terminal may deteriorate the portability of the mobile terminal and a feeling of user's grip. To obviate this problem, some of conventional mobile devices include thin edges, often referred to as a bezel, enclosing a display unit while the display unit is kept in an increased size.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show the front side of a conventional mobile terminal.
Referring first to FIG. 1, a user who uses a mobile terminal 10 including a touch screen 11 grips the mobile terminal 10. In this embodiment, due to a small width of a bezel, an unintended touch may often happen on the touch screen 11. For example, when a user grips the mobile terminal 10 by the left hand as shown, the user's left thumb may touch a certain part 13 of the touch screen 11 regardless of user's intention.
This unintended touch which occurs on a certain part 13 of the touch screen 11 as shown in FIG. 1 may often cause a wrong operation of the mobile terminal 10. Additionally, even though a user takes any intended touch action together with this unintended touch, the mobile terminal 10 may not perform a particular function in response to a user's intended touch action.
Referring to FIG. 2, a mobile terminal 20 may include a touch ignoring region 23 at a peripheral zone of a touch screen 21. Namely, the touch ignoring region 23 performs a display function like the other part of the touch screen 21, but ignores a touch input unlike the other part. This may prevent a wrong operation caused by an unintended touch on the touch ignoring region 23.
However, when user uses the mobile terminal 20 without a grip, e.g., when the mobile terminal 20 is placed on the palm of a hand or any other flat, the mobile terminal 20 may fail to recognize a touch input on the touch ignoring region 23. Unfortunately, this may invite user's inconvenience.